international iphone usage (help please and thanks)

[Jeenyuss]

whatever you do don't listen to galleleo.

[Nycle]

I'd have to agree with Eric and Galleleo. If paying the cancellation fee also unlocks the phone, then go with that and buy a sim card over here. International usage is ridiculously expensive, so I'm thinking you'll have earned back the cancellation fee in no time if you'd take into account the costs you would have made if you hadn't unlocked it.

Mobile subscriptions in the Netherlands are vastly cheaper than over there. I recently read somewhere that they are on average actually the cheapest of all developed countries (compare $11 over here vs. $53 over there for an average plan), so that's all the more reason to terminate your contract if possible. The only pitfall I can think of is that American phones generally work on different frequency bands for 3G than European ones, so you might be stuck to regular GSM in terms of speed.

[Rigor]

im pretty sure ATT as an international plan

^^this
My dad bought an ATT plan so he can use his phone when he goes over to the UK, etc.

[Mr. Peanuts]

If you want to unlock the iPhones, use redsn0w. You can download it on the left side of that page.

You must also download the appropriate .IPSW file, which is the iPhone's firmware. Choose a 3.0.1 version, depending on which iPhone model it is.

Before we unlock the iPhone, we must first 'jailbreak' it:

• Upgrade the iPhone firmware in iTunes to 3.0.1 if it isn't already, then run redsn0w.
  
• redsn0w will then ask you to point it to the 3.0.1 IPSW file you downloaded earlier. Select it and redsn0w should then tell you it has been successfully identified.
  
• redsn0w will do its business, then it should give you options about what you want to install; either Cydia or Icy. Icy has never worked well for me, so I recommend only selecting Cydia. Think of Cydia as a medium for distributing all sorts of applications you otherwise cannot get on App Store. Click next.
  
• redsn0w will now give you step-by-step instructions on how to put the device into DFU mode. Don't worry if you get this wrong the first time, you can always try again.
  
• Once the phone is recognised as in DFU mode, redsn0w will work its magic with the iPhone for a few minutes.
  
• The phone should restart itself and you can click Finish.

The iPhone is now jailbroken but not unlocked, you should be able to see a new app called Cydia, which is what you can use to unlock the phone.

To unlock it, follow this guide.

Can you believe that I charge people £20 for that? Shouldn't take long at all, and is a very easy and painless process. I've jailbroken and unlocked countless original iPhones, many iPhone 3Gs and the new iPhone 3GS using this method.

I apologise if this post is confusing in any way, I'm absolutely smoked after being in the gym.

[Eeks]

use skype?